The Great British Outdoors Located near beautiful Haystacks and many great walks is 18th century mining cottage now called Warnscale bothy. For years this small and beautiful slate structure has been a godsend shelter for exhausted hikers and since MBA installed a woodburning stove it’s gotten even better. Although it’s a small bothy and will sleep only two people (3rd on the floor if emergency), it has some of the best views right out of the bothy window.
Features
As well as a fantastic view out of the window the bothy has an L shaped sleeping platform for two people and a woodburning stove. In a small bothy like this, there’s nothing else you need. There is no toilet at this bothy as not many bothies have this luxury. You should walk at least a couple of hundred metres from the bothy and 60 metres from the water supply before excavations and evacuations commence to comply with the MBA rules.
Location
Located half-way up the mountain and boasting amazing views over Lake Buttermere the Warnscale head bothy has an ideal location. It is also just off major hiking trails, making it convenient to camp here without going far off the planned hiking route.
Size
Bothy is very small and will sleep up to 3 people, but 2 people comfortably.
Comfort
Despite not having much furniture or space in the bothy, we found this little bothy very comfortable and warm on all of our visits. You don’t need chairs as you’re close enough to a warming stove just sitting on the sleeping platforms. A point for comfort lost due to noisy local mouse that disturbed our sleep on all our visits despite hiding away our food.
Accessibility
We found the bothy very accessible from Gatesgarth farm car park and trails leading to bothy very well established except for last bit of section near the bothy itself.
